At the outset of yet another illegal Republican war fought for oil companies (why do people never learn? the patterns are not camouflaged!), I keep thinking of how to engage with the world. On the one hand, our system seems so broken and entrenched that I have a strong desire to retreat. Some of us in our community have bandied about the idea of co-housing, or a communal farm, or some other kind of space to build safety and covenant and new structures of togetherness. That’s a really appealing dream, and in order to beat capitalism, we definitely have to test-run other models of ownership and survival. But in some ways it feels like putting our heads in the sand and abandoning people who we could be helping.
Watch this space more as we develop the idea of the Craft Underground (aka Purl’s After Dark). We want to make it an ongoing retreat and space of safety. But we also want to engage with the wider community, to collaborate with other like-minded groups, to foster survival skills and mutual aid networks. We have lots of ideas. But it’s not going to be Elizabeth and I making it all happen: we truly want this to be a collaborative project that can grow beyond our wildest dreams. We need a place to draw back to, our own little blanket fort. But there are so many people who need to be invited in with us.
It’s strange on this third day of the year to be filled with so much anger and desperation, but also to have these hopes and dreams developing. Over and over in my life I have felt the darkness overshadowing me, from nuclear fears to the ashes of the World Trade Center, to loved ones with cancer, and more, and more. But we are not alone, none of us. We are not going to solve the big problems of the world, but we can do a lot more than nothing. It makes me happy that we are doing them together. Elizabeth and I love you all. If you ever need a hug or a friendly voice, come on by.
